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Category: Coal / Industry / Business, Economics and Finance / Government and Politics

Hazelwood powers down as locals call for 'jobs, not new pools' in transition

03:24 UTC+8 March 31, 2017 | Kellie Lazzaro

Hazelwood's final night shift crew will clock off on Saturday morning. (ABC News: Jean Edwards)

One of Australia's largest power stations, Hazelwood in Victoria's east, will close today marking the end of its 52-year history of power generation in the Latrobe Valley.

Inside Hazelwood


Even in its dying days, the Hazelwood power station contains a few surprises for the uninitiated.

All eight of the Hazelwood power station's generating units were switched off this week and the final night shift crew will clock off on Saturday morning.

With 750 people losing their jobs, the focus is firmly set on resurrecting the region's economy.

The Latrobe Valley already has one of the state's highest unemployment rates of 11.2 per cent.

Two in every 10 people in Morwell are out of work and that jobless rate will rise further.

The Victorian and federal governments have scrambled to respond, but it is a challenge for the region already marked by generational disadvantage and poor health outcomes.

Reporter Stephanie Anderson will host a Facebook Live from Morwell on the ABC News Facebook page from 8:00am AEDT.

The Victorian Government has offered $266 million to help the community deal with the changes.

That money is being administered by the newly-formed Latrobe Valley Authority and there is growing frustration about how it is being spent.

A new pool 'won't turn the economy around'

The region has never fully recovered from the loss of thousands of jobs when the State Electricity Commission was sold off by the former Kennett Liberal government in the 1990s.

Where will the $266m funding go?

  • $20m: Proposed Hazelwood worker transfer scheme
  • $50m: Subsidies, incentives for new and expanding business
  • $46m: Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre, Traralgon
  • $17m: Traralgon Indoor Sports and Entertainment complex
  • $5m: Recreation reserve upgrades
  • $5m: Solar upgrades for 1,000 homes
  • $4m: Morwell Recreation Reserve
  • $3m: Ted Summerton Reserve, Moe
  • $2.3m: Low-interest loans for low income earners
  • $1.4m: Sale and Traralgon Tennis Courts
  • $800k: Art gallery renovation at Morwell

Local advocate Cheryl Wragg said the government response to Hazelwood's closure is just as ad-hoc now as it was back then.

"We have this disconnected, inadequate process where various entities around the place pork barrel this money," she said.

"Yes, it might be good to get a $46 million swimming pool but it will not change the economic fundamentals of the Latrobe Valley."

"We need factories, we need businesses, we need industries that will get people off the streets and back into productive work."

Morwell newsagent Ray Burgess, who led a last-ditch campaign to keep the plant operating agreed, saying people desperately wanted to see another big job-creating industry in the valley.

"They want jobs, and they want the hope of jobs, so the morale or the psychology of the valley is linked to that," he said.

"This despondency, this gloom that's over us at the moment, won't be lifted until we can see a vision for that."

The eight chimneys of the Hazelwood power plant. Photo: The Latrobe Valley is already battling to come to terms with high unemployment. (ABC News: Jane Cowan)

Facilities revamp makes Latrobe Valley 'more liveable'

The Victorian Government created the Latrobe Valley Authority in response to the Hazelwood closure, but it is yet to appoint a permanent boss, and acting chief executive Kylie White has not applied for the position.

Ms White rejected accusations the government funding was being misspent.

"Having great facilities here makes the place more liveable and an attractive place to stay, so I think that's really important for the Latrobe Valley," Ms White said.

"Many of the projects that we're working on now are those that have been discussed or in the pipeline or considered for the region up until now. Now is the chance to get those underway and then look to what's next."

Ms Wragg wants a national body answerable to the Federal Parliament to oversee the Latrobe Valley's transition.

What the shutdown means for you


How do you actually close one of the biggest power plants in the country? What will it do to electricity prices? And is it a win for the environment?

"These dollars being spent in the Valley are valuable, but what we need is a Commission tasked with a 30-year timeframe to lure investment to the region," Ms Wragg said.

Victoria has the second largest coal reserve in the world. There have been various attempts to find alternative uses for the resource but none have materialised.

"For example, converting our brown coal into carbon fibre. Why don't we have a carbon pitch for the Latrobe Valley?" Ms Wragg said.

Environment Victoria chief executive Mark Wakeham welcomed the closure of Hazelwood but said work should have started much earlier to prepare the Latrobe Valley for the transition away from brown coal-fired power generation.

"We need to get better at closing old and polluting power stations," he said.

"We urgently need a national plan for the orderly replacement of Australia's 20 remaining coal-burning power stations with renewable energy, and to support affected communities and workers through this transition."

The Victorian Government committed to releasing its coal policy by December 2016 after a review of coal development programs but the policy is yet to be released.

AustraliaPlus


 

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